Ball table



Patented June 16, 1936 UNITED STAT orri 9 Claims.

My invention relates to games and more particularly to skill games wherein the skill of the operator in judging the speed of rotation of a table and the force with which he delivers a ball to the table may be exercised in arriving at the maximum score for the game.

It is a purpose of this invention to provide a game of this character combining the features of driving a ball into a guide or raceway and pocketing the ball in the pockets of a moving table, the movement of which is controlled within limits by the player.

My invention contemplates the provision of a machine embodying a moving table preferably of the rotatable type in conjunction with a ball guide or raceway adapted to direct the balls onto the table in such fashion as to permit them to be dropped into pockets provided in the table whereby a score calculated by the values given to the respective pockets may be made by the player.

In this connection, my invention further contemplates the provision of a novel means for imparting movement to the rotating table at the will of the player and means for controlling the speed of the table after it has been started in motion.

Incident-a1 to the general purpose of the invention, it is also the purpose to provide a machine of this character wherein the movement of the table is optional with the player while he is playing the balls into the raceway thus giving a greater range of uses to which the machine may be put.

In the machine embodying the invention, I utilize certain well known devices which are, of course, standard in construction and in their details form no part of the present invention although they may cooperate in a novel manner in the combination. For example, I use a well known standard coin controlled mechanism for starting the game in play. I also use a well known ball return and positioning mechanism with the well known type of ball driving plunger for shooting the balls onto the raceway. In so far as the specific details of the coin slot mechanism or the ball positioning mechanism and the plunger mechanism, I make no claim for novelty.

My invention contemplates further the provision in a game of the character described of a novel means for removing the balls already played from the pockets in the scoring table and returning them to the ball throwing or delivery mechanism.

Other and more specific objects and advantages of this device will appear as the description proceeds in connection'with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the description and drawings are illustrative only and are not to be taken as limiting the invention except in so far as it is limited by the claims wherein it is intended to cover all novelty inherent in the device in View of the prior art. 10

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view illustrating certain parts of the machine; 15

Fig. 3 is a plan view with a part of the mechanism broken away; and

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the machine with the side wall removed.

Referring now in detail to the'drawings, the machine consists essentially of a coin control mechanism 5 which is adapted to be moved by the player so as to engage an operating rod 6' and through the medium of this rod prepare the machine for play. 25}

The machine contains a ball guide or raceway I! which rests upon a partition wall 4 and encircles a rotatable table 9, the table 9 being mounted by means of the shaft 9 for rotation upon a suitable pedestal 8. The entire machine 30 is enclosed on the sides and at the bottom by means of the base I, the end walls 2, and the side walls 3. A ball tube It enters the raceway ll tangentially and has at its opposite end the well known spring plunger indicated general- 35 ly by the numeral ll. The details of this plunger are not shown herein as the structure is a commercial type well known in the pin games now found on the market. A suitable delivery tube hi is adapted to deliver the ball from the ball 40 return trough l3 into the tube I6, and the mechanism indicated by the numeral l5 serves to operate this delivery device. The mechanism M and I5 is also of a well known commercial structure and is only indicated generally in the dr-aw- 45 ings in this application.

Referring now to the rotatable table 9, this table is provided with circumferentially spaced openings II] which extend completely through the table, but are covered by the annular plate 50 l I at their lower ends so that, if a ball .drops in one of the openings l0, it is prevented from falling through by the plate II. The table 9 also has on the bottom thereof the circumferentially spaced pins 8 for a purpose which will pres- 55 ently appear. The plate I I is slotted at one side thereof to cooperate with the member I2 which may be displaced to permit balls in the openings ID to drop through into the guidew-ay I3 for returning the balls to the mechanism shown at I 4.

The shape of the top of the table 9 may be varied, but it is of the general shape indicated in Fig. 4 so as to direct any ball which may ride up on the surface thereof back down toward the openings ID. This table may be made of any suitable material for the purpose, and the weight thereof as well as the mounting may be such as to permit free rotation of the table for a considerable time when it has once been set in motion. The raceway II surrounding the table also preferably has the top thereof cut out in the general shape indicated in Fig. 4 so as to direct the balls downwardly and inwardly toward the openings ID as the balls lose speed.

It will be evident that the action of the balls will depend to a considerable degree upon the speed of rotation of the table 9 at the time the ball first engages it. For example, if the ball is running around the surface of the raceway II and the table 9 is rotating at the same speed as the ball but in the opposite direction, the ball when it moves across the dividing line between the table 9 and the raceway II will have a speed with respect to the table 9 substantially double its speed with respect to the raceway Ii. However, when it is transferred to the table 9, its speed with respect to the raceway II becomes substantially zero, and in fact it may move in the opposite direction with respect to the raceway II. Thus it is readily seen that the player may exercise his skill not only in the speed with which he delivers the ball to the raceway II, but also in the control of the speed of the table 9 by means of the member I9.

The member I9 is a long rod running from the front of the machine back to a controlling member 20 mounted on the tip of the rod I9 and adapted to be moved by the player into the path of the pins 8 which are mounted on the bottom of the table 9. The tip of the member 29 may be flexible, if desired, to give a better control of the retarding influence it may apply to the table by engaging the pins 8. The rod I9 is mounted on a suitable bracket at 2| intermediate its ends, and a spring 22 connecting the bracket 2I with the rod I 9 normally holds the member 20 back out of the path of the pins 6.

The manner of initiating the rotation of the table 9 will now be described. It will be noted that the operating rod 6 is mounted upon the supporting brackets 23 and 24 for sliding movement and is normally urged toward the coin slot 5 by means of the spring 25 which connects the bracket 24 with the rod 6. The rod 6 is connected by link 26 to the member I which is hinged at 21 to the frame of the machine. This member 1 has the extension 28 hinged thereto and normally held in line therewith by means of the spring 29. It is evident that, when the rod 6 is shoved toward the member i, the member I will be swung by means of the link 26 in the direction of the arrow in' Fig. 3 to cause the member 28 to strike one of the pins 8. The force with which the rod 6 is moved will, of course, determine the force with which the member 28 strikes the pin 8 and thus will determine the speed of rotation imparted to the table 9. As the spring 25 returns the rod 6 to its inoperative position, the member 28, which is rounded as indicated at 30, will ride over the pins 8 due to the fact that it is hinged to the member I, and because the spring 29 is not very strong it will not exert any substantial retarding influence upon the table 9. The stop 3| mounted on the 5 frame of the machine serves to limit the movement of the member I in the direction of the arrow.

The advance of the rod 6 to start the table in rotation also operates the member I2 to move 10 it out of the way and permit the balls already in the openings ID to return to the trough I3. It will be noted that the link 32 is connected to the rod 6 at the same end to which the link 26 is connected, and this bar at its other end is 15 connected to the member I2 which is pivoted at 33 beneath the partition wall 4. Thus the advance of the rod 6 pulls the link 92 with it so as to swing the member I2 in a clockwise direction off of the slot provided in the plate II so as to 20 permit the balls to fall through the plate II into the trough I3. The rod 6 is held in the ad'- vance position long enough for the table 9 to make a complete revolution which will allow all of the balls in the openings ID to be delivered into the trough I3. Then, when the rod 6 is retracted by means of the spring 25, the member 52 returns to its original position to close the slot in the plate II and thus prevent the balls from falling out of the pockets Ill during the remainder 30- of the play.

While I have described the preferred form of the invention, it is obvious that various modifications may be made from the exact details shown and described without departing from the 35 scope of the invention, The dimensions of the several parts and the materials of which they are made may be varied to suit the conditions for which the machine is constructed without changing the invention in any of its essential features.

I will now describe a complete operation of the machine as it is played by the player in order to make the features thereof readily understandable.

The player sets the machine in operation by inserting a coin in the coin slot of the mechanism 5 and then thrusts forward this coin slot in the well known manner which will cause the end 5 to engage the rod 6 and advance it. Naturally, the speed with which the rod 6 will be advanced depends upon the thrust imparted by the player to the coin slot mechanism. Advance of the rod 6 moves the member I in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3 to cause the member 28 to strike one of the pins 8 and set the table 9 in motion. The player is instructed to hold the coin slot mechanism advanced in forward position long enough to allow at least one complete turn of the table 9. Since advance of the rod 6 moves the member I2 to the right as shown in Fig. 3 out of the opening in the member II, the balls in the revolving table will drop into the trough I3 and return to the mechanism I4. The player then lets the coin slot go and, by operation of the member l5, moves one of the balls into the tube I6, and, by pulling out the plunger I1, he can drive the ball up through the tube I6 into the raceway II.

The player may, if heso desires, operate the 70 rod I9 to stop the revolving table before he plays the ball so that he may play the game either with the table 9 in motion or still. When the ball is shot into the raceway I I, its speed will govern the number of complete circles it will make in this raceway. As the momentum of the ball dies, it will drop lower and toward the center until it slows down sufilciently to lodge in one of the several pockets l6 near the outer rim of the table 9. The player may then repeat the operation of bringing the balls into playing position and shooting the same until all the balls provided in the set have been played and are lodged in the holes or pockets in the table 9.

On the upper surface of the table 9, there are numbers or symbols corresponding to the holes or pockets I signifying the awards or scores which are to be made by the player. Naturally, this award or score may be made by groups or numerical sequences of pockets, and only those pockets into which the balls drop are considered in building up the award or score combination.

This completes one complete operation of the game, and, in order to play the game again, it is necessary to operate the rod 6 to set the table in motion for delivering the balls to the trough l3, and the game may again be played over.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A combination ball and rotating wheel game device comprising a frame, a freely rotatable table thereon, a coin controlled lever for imparting rotation to said table, a ball guide around said table for directing balls thrown onto said guide to the table, said table having circumferentially spaced ball receiving openings therein, closure means beneath said openings to prevent balls from falling through, and a trap door in said closure means operable from said lever to discharge the balls from the openings when the wheel is started.

2. A combination ball and rotating wheel game device comprising a frame, a freely rotatable table thereon, a coin controlled lever for imparting rotation to said table, a ball guide around said table for directing balls thrown onto said guide to the table, said table having circumferentially spaced ball receiving openings therein, a stationary plate beneath said openings to hold the balls therein, a trap door in said plate, and means actuated by said lever for opening said door.

3. A combination ball and rotating wheel game device comprising a frame, a table mounted for rotation thereon, a manually operable member for spinning said table in one direction, a ball guide around said table and sloping downwardly toward said table, means for directing balls onto said guide in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of said table, said table having ball receiving openings therein, and means operable by said member to remove the balls from said openings, said last named means comprising a stationary plate below the openings in said table and having a slot over which said openings pass, a movable member normally closing said slot, and linked to said first named member for actuation thereby.

4. A combination ball and rotating wheel game device comprising a. frame, a table mounted for rotation thereon, a manually operable member for spinning said table in one direction, a ball guide around said table and sloping downwardly toward said table, means for directing balls onto said guide, a manually controllable means to retard the rotation of said table, said table having ball receiving openings therein, and means to remove the balls from said openings.

5. A combination ball and rotating wheel game device comprising a frame, a table mounted for rotation thereon, a manually operable member for spinning said tablein one direction, a ball guide around said table and sloping downwardly toward said table, means for directing balls onto said guide, a manually controllable means to retard the rotation of said table, said table having ball receiving openings therein, and means to remove the balls from said openings, said retarding means comprising a friction producing device, and means on said table engageable by said device.

6. A combination ball and rotating wheel game device comprising a supporting frame, a table rotatably mounted thereon, projections depending from said table, a manually operable lever for striking one of said projections to initiate rotation of said table, a manually controlled retarding device to retard the rotation of said table, ball openings in said table, and means for delivering balls to said table.

7 A combination ball and rotating wheel game device comprising a supporting frame, a table rotatably mounted thereon, projections depending from. said table, a manually operable lever for striking one of said projections to initiate rotation of said table, a manually controlled retarding device movable into the path of said projections to retard the rotation of said table, ball openings in said table, and means for delivering balls to said table.

8. A combination ball and rotating wheel game device comprising a supporting frame, a table rotatably mounted thereon, projections depending from said'table, a manually operable lever for striking one of said projections to initiate rotation of said table, a manually controlled retarding device to retard the rotation of said table, ball openings in said table, and means for delivering balls to said table, and means operating in response to the initiation of rotation of said table to remove the balls from said pockets.

9. A combination ball and rotating wheel game device comprising a supporting frame, a table rotatably mounted thereon, projections depending from said table, a manually operable lever for striking one of said projections to initiate rotation of said table, a manually controlled retarding device comprising a rod mounted for endwise movement toward and away from said projections and having a flexible member thereon for engaging said projections, a ball guide around said table, and means for delivering balls to said guide, said table having openings to receive balls moving onto it from said guide.

JACK MCLOUGHLIN. 

